Daily Report: U.S. Olympic Sailing Team – August 11

The 2012 Games brought large spectator crowds to sailing for the first time. Team USA’s family and friends were seen daily cheering on their athletes. photo Daniel Forster/go4image.com

As the 2012 Olympic Games come to a conclusion, the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team is wrapping up in Weymouth and Portland, home to the Olympic sailing venue. After 16 days of competition, the entire team – athletes, coaches, and staff – is finalizing the details involved with closing down the on-site operation. This evening, the team heads to London to spend the evening with their Team USA teammates before celebrating at Sunday’s Closing Ceremony. Before the team departed, Team Leader Dean Brenner spoke about the Team and the 2012 Olympic Games.

“We arrived here in mid-July as a team,” said Brenner. “We went to the Opening Ceremony as a team, we’re packing up our containers as a team and we are going to the Closing Ceremony and then home as a team. The closing ceremony is going to be a great final step in this journey that we’ve all taken.”

The process to becoming a 2012 Olympian is a lifetime commitment, solidified over the past four years of training. “Getting to the Olympic Games requires enormous commitment,” said Brenner. “It requires great character, an immense amount of hard work. It starts with the decision ‘do you want to be an Olympian and are you willing to do what is required?’”

Performance at the Games has come under scrutiny in the past few days, and Brenner explained that review and analysis come with any professional sports team. “There are a lot of opinions about how the 2012 U.S. Olympic Sailing Team has done and with good reason,” said Brenner. “People care about this team and a lot of people take pride in this team.

“We’ve made it easier over the years to follow the team and that’s worked because people are paying attention. The team didn’t do well. We all know that. The results weren’t what we wanted and what others were hoping for, which means there is a lot of opinion out there of what we should be doing, what we should be thinking about, what we did right and not right.

“I think it’s important to keep in mind a few things. A lot of things were done well and this team did a lot of things really well. We made a lot of progress this quad and these results don’t change that, and that progress is quantifiable in many ways.

“The other thing to keep in mind is the sailors themselves aren’t satisfied, and I think you’ll see a lot of them back for 2016. We’re going to take a really hard look in the mirror as a program, staff and athletes, and anyone who isn’t pleased with our performance should realize that neither are we, neither are the 16 athletes who were here. They’re going to take a look in the mirror and figure out what they can do better, whether they come back or not.”

Once the Olympic flame is extinguished at Olympic Park, in London, every member of the Team will take with them the memories and pride of representing the United States of American, and then return home as Olympians.

About the U.S. Olympic Sailing TeamThe U.S. Olympic Sailing Team is managed by the United States Sailing Association (US Sailing), the national governing body for the sport of sailing and sailboat racing. Athletes in each Olympic class were selected to the Team based on performance at two selection events. US Sailing has a proud history in the sport, collecting 59 medals since sailing was first included in the Games in 1900.

The United States Sailing Association (US Sailing), the national governing body for sailing, provides leadership, integrity, and growth for the sport in the United States. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, US Sailing is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. US Sailing offers training and education programs for instructors and race officials, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and communities, issues offshore rating certificates, and provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the country, including National Championships and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Sailing Teams. For more information, please visit us at www.ussailing.org.